Tea Party Express makes tracks for Bluffton

Wednesday

Aug 31, 2011 at 12:16 AM

The Tea Party Express, a political action group promoting conservative causes, will roll its “Reclaiming America Presidential Tour” into Bluffton for a noon Sept. 10 rally.

It’s the next to last stop on a 29-rally, cross-country bus tour that began Saturday in Napa, Calif. The finale will be a Tea Party Presidential Debate co-hosted by CNN and the Tea Party Express at 8 p.m. Sept. 12 in Tampa., Fla.

At every stop, an open invitation has been made to Republican presidential hopefuls “to come and make their case to the tea party audience on why they think they’re the best choice,” Levi Russell, Tea Party Express spokesman, said Monday from a tour bus in Wyoming.

Speaking lineups are not completed for the South Carolina stops in Greenville, Columbia and Bluffton. But Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Min., has signed up for today’s Des Moines, Iowa, stop, according to Russell. He also said former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts would join an Iowa stop, but did not give specifics.

“Further details will be released in the coming days on the numerous candidates for president that are coordinating their schedules to join Tea Party Express events across the country,” according to a Tea Party Express release on Bachmann’s confirmation.

EX-SNL STAR IN LINEUP

Confirmed speakers for Bluffton include tour members and comedians Victoria Jackson, former “Saturday Night Live” cast member, and Jim Labriola, who acted on the “Home Improvement” TV sitcom. Other speakers will include representatives of some of the larger national tea party groups and conservative groups, such as Freedom Works, Americans for Prosperity, and the Patriot Action Network, Russell said.

The Bluffton event, which falls on a Saturday, will be at the Calhoun Street Promenade in Old Town. The Bluffton Tea Party Patriots, Hilton Head Island TEA Party and Beaufort Tea Party are co-sponsoring the countywide rally.

‘COUP’ FOR BLUFFTON

“We’re very excited that they picked Beaufort County. Darned if I know why, but it’s terrific. It’s quite a coup for little Bluffton. We didn’t even ask them; they called us,” said Jane Kenny of Sun City, co-organizer of the Bluffton Tea Party Patriots. She said she’s the local contact and logistics coordinator for “the Tea Party Express show” in Bluffton.

The Tea Party Express rally program “is up to the Express. It’s their show,” she said. Also, starting at 11 a.m. Sept. 10, local tea party groups will host a “pre-rally” including local speakers.

“The motivation of tea party is so pure that sometimes a lot of people can’t believe it,” Kenny said. “The tea party is very, very simple.” She said it has only three core values: constitutionally limited government, fiscal responsibility and a free market economy.

Tea party groups from the Charleston area and possibly Savannah are expected to travel to the Bluffton event, too, she said.

GETTING ON BOARD

Russell said Tea Party Express “is best know for doing big, nationwide tours that kind of unify the tea party movement across the country, and work with all the local tea party groups to keep (them) engaged. As a PAC, we get involved with helping to elect conservative candidates to Congress.”

The overall schedule for the fifth national tour puts a focus on early 2012 primary states like South Carolina. “We wanted to hit as many spots in South Carolina as we could on our way down to Florida,” Russell said.

Bluffton was picked “because active tea party groups were willing and eager to work with us to bring a large tea party to the town to send a message that the people of South Carolina are engaged and paying attention to determine which candidate best represents their values,” he said.

According to The Associated Press, Our Country Deserves Better, the Sacramento, Calif., based political action committee that funds Tea Party Express activities, was formed in 2008 to help Republican John McCain’s presidential campaign. Bachmann gave the Tea Party Express response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address in January, and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin helped kick off the group’s previous national tour.

The town of Bluffton has issued a special events permit for a “tea party gathering” from 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Sept. 10 at the Promenade. The application from the Bluffton and Beaufort tea parties “states that an estimated 300 people will attend,” said town Facilities Director Tammy Malone.

Kenny said she made the conservative estimate of 300 attendees in part because she figures the Bluffton Block Party from noon-5 p.m. Sept. 10 at Buckwalter Place will draw many people.

The block party will be a non-political, family oriented celebration of America with music, food and 9/11 and military service recognitions, according to organizers who projected attendance will top 800 people.